1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to food processing apparatus and in particular to a meat tenderizing machine having roller cutters for tenderizing meat cutlets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Breaded veal and steak cutlets of the type typically served in restaurants comprise meat cutlets which have undergone tenderizing and breading operations prior to cooking. The tenderizing and breading may be carried out on the premises of the restaurant but in most establishments bulk quantities of the breaded cutlets are provided by a food processing vendor according to certain specifications regarding meat portion size, weight and breading constituency.
According to conventional methods, the tenderizing process is carried out by a single operator on a tenderizing machine which has a pair of roller cutters provided with teeth or knives for severing the connective tissues and striations. The meat cutlet is fed between the roller cutters, and after discharge from the cutters, is manually inverted and rotated 90.degree. by the operator and is fed through the roller cutters again. This procedure may be repeated to achieve the desired degree of tenderizing. This manual operation is quite slow and requires the close attention of an operator during the inverting and turning steps. The effectiveness of bulk tenderizing operations involving multiple operators and multiple tenderizing units has been limited by the increasing capital expenditures for individually operated tenderizing machines and by rapidly increasing labor costs. Although a single meat tenderizing machine and operator may be economically competitive in a low volume operation, food processing vendors who supply bulk quantities of tenderized cutlets require automatic tenderizing equipment capable of high volume production with minimum supervision and maintenance.
Because of the tendency of the cutlet to shrink during cooking, it is desirable during the tenderizing procedure to flatten out the cutlet and increase its surface area as much as possible prior to performing the breading step. According to conventional methods, the cutlet is pressed and squeezed as it is fed through closely spaced rollers to obtain the desired increase in surface area. This is usually carried out by successive squeezing and pressing operations in separate roller presses which increases the processing time and in some cases limits the rate at which cutlets can be fed through the roller cutters.
Therefore, there is a continuing interest in providing apparatus which is capable of efficient bulk processing of meat cutlets in which the tenderizing and surface area expansion procedures are carried out effectively and efficiently.